HyperSolar Extends Agreement With University of Iowa Following Major Technology Breakthrough

HyperSolar, the developer of a breakthrough technology to produce renewable hydrogen using sunlight and water, announced today that it has extended its sponsored research agreement with the University of Iowa through April 30, 2016 as the Company continues to aggressively pursue a hydrogen production technology process intended to meet the internationally growing demand for hydrogen across growing market applications.

Since adding University of Iowa to collaborate alongside the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in November 2014, HyperSolar has experienced tremendous progress towards making its technology commercially viable for real world systems.

The Company announced in September 2015 that it had surpassed 1.5 Volts (V), the practical voltage needed to effectively split water molecules to produce hydrogen in real world systems. Exceeding this milestone had been a long-term goal for the Company, as its technology is predicated on the ability to reach voltage levels needed to make renewable hydrogen production commercially viable. The collaboration between the two Universities led to the rapid development of the technology, as the Company surpassed both the theoretical minimum (1.23 V) then the recent 1.55 V breakthrough, within one year.

"Extending the relationship with University of Iowa, led by Dr. Syed Mubeen Hussaini, has been a top priority as they have been instrumental in increasing the speed-to-market for HyperSolar technology," said Tim Young, CEO of HyperSolar. "We have always understood that the goal for low-cost renewable hydrogen production would require time and patience, yet the capabilities of HyperSolar technology have expanded rapidly, a credit to the University of Iowa as well as UCSB. To sustain this momentum, the leadership and direction from both universities remains critical, as the Company continues to identify methods of increasing voltage as well as improving the sunlight-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency. While our technology achievements are significant, it is essential that we improve photocurrents generated in our process, so that we can be cost competitive with conventional fossil fuel based hydrogen production techniques, such as steam reforming of natural gas. These next steps are critical to bringing HyperSolar closer to its ultimate vision of commercialized renewable hydrogen production."

HyperSolar's technology is based on the concept of developing a low-cost, submersible hydrogen production particle that can split water molecules using sunlight without any other external systems or resources -- acting as artificial photosynthesis.